Lachlan: What? Are you crazy?
Amelia: It’s not like anyone else is interested…
Lachlan: Why do you think I texted you?
Amelia: I have no idea, but all you did earlier was tell me not to drink. You’re not my Daddy. I’m just having fun!
Lachlan: If I was your Daddy, you wouldn’t still be at that party.
Amelia: I might tell this guy goodnight if you come and get me…
Lachlan: Didn’t you get in trouble for leaving last weekend?
Amelia: I don’t care. Kira can fuck off.
Lachlan: I have no idea who that is. Where are you?
Amelia: Pi Beta Phi house. Can you find it?
Lachlan: Yeah, I’m on my way.
Busting into a sorority house in the middle of a party to drag someone out of it wasn’t my idea of a fun Friday night, but I was worried about Amelia. She was still drinking. That meant she could easily make a mistake—or someone could take advantage of her. I wasn’t going to let that happen. I grabbed my keys, hopped in my car, and broke several speed limits as I located the Pi Beta Phi house. It was in the middle of Sorority Row, and it looked like the party was in full swing when I arrived.
Well fuck. This is going to be a nightmare…
I parked on the curb and pulled out my phone. I sent several messages to Amelia, but she didn’t respond at all. It appeared that my only option was to go inside. I didn’t like it, but I had no idea if she was ignoring me on purpose or in trouble. I hopped out of the car as soon as I turned off the ignition and started walking towards the house.
It’s a good thing I’m not a teacher at the University—they would be freaking the fuck out.
“Hey, bro!” An obviously drunk guy wearing Greek letters on his t-shirt came walking up to me. “What house are you with?”
“House? Oh, right.” I forced a smile. “Alpha Gamma Rho.”
Hopefully, my old frat has a chapter here—I never checked.
“Ah, yeah! My bro is in that one! Awesome!” He slapped me on the back. “Grab a beer, bro. Awesome accent!”
Whew, that actually worked. This guy is obviously too drunk to tell that I’m not a student.
“Thanks—bro.” I felt my jaw clench, and I continued walking towards the house.
The inside of the Pi Beta Phi sorority house was party central. The main room was filled with sorority girls, frat guys, and I couldn’t even put my thoughts together coherently because of the loud music. Thankfully, there were so many people in the house that they didn’t notice a stranger pushing his way through them. I made it to the kitchen and saw a vast array of liquor bottles and an open patio filled with people smoking—and not just cigarettes. The smell of marijuana and tobacco was laced with fruity flavors from those that were vaping. I didn’t see any sign of Amelia, so I continued my search.
This is like trying to find a needle in a haystack of blondes…
Chapter Seven
Amelia
I wasn’t just drunk, I was wasted—if there was a step above wasted, I had hit that too, but I hadn’t blacked out. I didn’t have control of my own thoughts, and I barely even knew what I was doing. I felt like a ghost floating around the Pi Beta Phi sorority house, and while people were interacting with me, I didn’t think they were real. I thought it was just an illusion or a dream.
I shouldn’t have hit that joint—the first, second, or fifth time…
I was aware of the fact I communicated with Lachlan, but I wasn’t sure what I said. If any of it was coherent, it was only because of Autocorrect. I thought about texting him again, but when I tried to use my phone, it was dead. I spaced out for a while, and then decided I should go upstairs to my room so I could charge it. It felt like my journey up the stairs took hours—like Moses wandering in the desert from the story I heard in Sunday school when I was a little girl.
I bet his cell phone was dead too. Wait… he didn’t have a cell phone.
My room looked like it was in a tunnel when I finally saw it. There were people upstairs, but I just ignored them as I stumbled forward. I was kind of hoping one of the pledges that shared the room with me would be in there because I wasn’t sure I had the coordination to plug my phone in, but it was empty. I stumbled towards the dresser where the charger was and misjudged the distance, which caused me to walk right into it.
“Ow! Fuck!” I grabbed my arm. “Damn it…”
I picked up the charger cord, and when I looked down at my hand, I realized I had dropped my phone. I was so drunk I didn’t even notice. I scanned the floor and finally saw it lying beside my bed. I bent down, used my bed for support, and picked it up. The door opened behind me, and I assumed it was one of the other pledges.
“Hey, can you help…” My words probably sounded a lot worse than I thought they did, but I said something.
“Sure, I can help.” The voice didn’t belong to one of my sorority sisters—I would have recognized that Scottish accent anywhere.
“Lachlan!” I turned around and lost my balance as I literally tripped over my own two feet.
“Careful, lass.” He stepped forward and caught me before I could find out what the hardwood floor tasted like.
“Well, this is embarrassing.” I looked up at him as he helped me to the bed so I could sit down.
“I think ye had a bit too much to drink.” He folded his arms across his chest.
“Along with a few other things…” I nodded aimlessly.
“At least ye didn’t hurt yerself.” He sighed. “I think it’s time for ye to get some rest.”
“But you came all this way…” I leaned forward. “Where’s your kilt?”
“I don’t wear my kilt all the time, lass.” He laughed. “It was just for the festival.”
“That’s too bad,” I groaned. “I liked it.”
“Maybe I’ll wear it for ye some other time, but for now, I think ye should get some sleep.” He motioned for me to lay down.
“I’m okay…” I tried to stand, but realized my legs were not going to cooperate.
“Shh.” Lachlan put his hand on my shoulder and gently nudged me towards the pillow.
I was definitely exhausted, and the alcohol was catching up with me. I tried to close my eyes, but I didn’t want to stop staring at the gorgeous Scotsman that was inches from my bed. He was so fucking hot. I finally had a guy in my room—the perfect guy, and I was too drunk to do anything about it. I cursed tequila. I cursed Kira. I would have taken those paddle swats had I realized Lachlan was going to text me.
“You don’t want to join me?” I stretched out my arms.
“Close yer eyes, lass.” Lachlan looked down at me and smiled. “You just need to sleep.”
Lachlan sat down on the edge of the bed and ran his fingers through my hair. That felt really good, and extremely relaxing—to the point that I thought I might be able to sleep, even with the world spinning. I was aware of something—the absence of him—when he stood up from the bed. I heard his footsteps, and it didn’t sound like he was walking to the door, but then the door opened.
“Bro!” I didn’t recognize the voice, but I was trapped between being asleep and awake, so I couldn’t open my eyes.
“She’s sleeping.” Lachlan’s sexy voice echoed in the room.
“Oh!” I heard footsteps. “Damn bro, she’s cute. You wanna—you know.”
“Do I wanna fucking what?” Lachlan’s tone got a lot more intense.
“Sorry, bro—didn’t realize it was a private party.” The door slammed.
I drifted off to sleep after that, unable to process what I had heard. I didn’t even dream—it was just total blackness that engulfed me. A few seconds later, I could feel something, like someone was trying to shake me. I woke up, but I was so groggy it was almost impossible for me to open my eyes.
“Wake up, lass. We’re leaving.” Lachlan’s tone was even more intense than before.
“What?” I forced my eyes open. “No, I’m sleeping…”
“I can’t stay here with ye all night, and three guys have opened yer damn door since ye laid down. I’m not leaving ye here.” He grabbed my arms and pulled me to a sitting position. “Not like this…”
“Okay.” I slumped against his shoulder. “I’m ready to go.”
“I don’t know about that, but we’re leaving anyway.” Lachlan lifted me to a standing position and held me when my legs didn’t work.
It took several minutes for me to compose my thoughts and figure out how to make my feet work. In the back of my mind, I knew I would get in trouble for leaving, but I didn’t care—not if Lachlan was the one I was leaving with. I probably should have been a little more concerned, but I wasn’t. I felt safe with him. He wouldn’t let me drink at the festival, so I doubted he was the kind of guy that would do something to me if we were alone—even if I was too drunk to walk straight.
“Come on, lass.” He put an arm around my waist and supported me.
“Okay…” I leaned against his shoulder and smiled.
* * *
I became aware of the sun’s existence when it started beating down on my face—that meant it was morning—there was also something wrong. My dorm room window didn’t face the sun. I opened my eyes in confusion, and they were so fuzzy it looked like I wasn’t even in the Pi Beta Phi sorority house. I rubbed them a couple of times until they came into focus and realized my blurry stare was right.
“What the fuck?” I threw the covers off and looked down to see that I wasn’t wearing anything but my bra and panties. “Oh my god!”
I looked around the room as I tried to piece together the events of the previous night. I remembered drinking way more than I should have. I remembered bumming cigarettes off multiple people. I remembered hitting a vape pen that someone told me was marijuana—it obviously was, because things got really hazy after that.
“Where the hell am I?” I spun around in a circle once I made it to my feet.
The room wasn’t really decorated. The walls were pretty bare. I found my clothes neatly folded on a chair, so I quickly put them on. My head was pounding so hard that I could barely put functional thoughts together, but when I did another spin, I saw something on a table beside the bed—three Advil and a bottle of red Gatorade. They were sitting on top of a note, and my cell phone was on the table beside them. It was plugged into a charger that looked like the one from my room.
Wait a second. Is that a kilt?
The closet door wasn’t completely closed, and I could see something hanging on the inside. I walked over, pulled it open, and confirmed that it was indeed a kilt—not just any kilt—it was the same color as the one Lachlan was wearing at the festival. All of a sudden, my memories started coming back like random flashes of lights. I remembered texting him. He found me. I left with him…
“Holy shit! Did we—do something?” I ran to pick up my cell phone and saw that I had multiple text messages from my sorority sisters.
I ignored all of those and read my messages from Lachlan. I don’t know what I was looking for, but there were no answers there. I had already figured out where I was. My head was still pounding, so I decided to take the Advil. My throat was so parched that the red Gatorade tasted like the best thing I had ever put in my mouth. I realized I wasn’t going to get any answers where I was, so I needed to walk outside of what I assumed was Lachlan’s room.
I don’t think we did anything… I’m pretty sure I would feel it if I lost my virginity last night.
The Gatorade, Advil, and general passing of time, was making everything come into focus. I didn’t have sex—there was no way I got my cherry popped without some discomfort, and there really wasn’t any other than a few bruises from banging into things at the sorority house.
I walked to the door and opened it. I was in a house, and it was dark except for a sliver of light that peeked into what appeared to be a living room. After I took a couple of steps forward, I realized someone was sleeping on the couch—it was Lachlan. I made the connection pretty quickly as a few more memories registered, and I remembered him telling me that I didn’t need to sleep in my room.
He showed up. Guys were coming into my room while I was passed out. He made sure none of them could hurt me…
I already knew Lachlan was the hottest guy I had ever seen, but I didn’t expect him to literally be my hero. If I was passed out drunk in my room and guys were coming in, anything could have happened. My sorority sisters certainly weren’t doing anything to keep me safe.
After several seconds of staring at Lachlan, my phone buzzed in my hand and made me jump. I looked down to see a message from Chrissy.
Chrissy: Where the hell are you? You’re in a lot of trouble!
Amelia: I left…
Chrissy: You were wasted!
Amelia: I’m fine. How are you doing?
Chrissy: Sore, but I’ll live. Do you need me to come and get you?
Amelia: Nah, I’m okay. I’ll make it back at some point.
Chrissy: You better hurry! Kira is pissed!
Amelia: After what Kira did to us yesterday, I really don’t give a fuck if she’s pissed off.
“Yer awake…” Lachlan sat up on the couch and rubbed his eyes.
“Yeah.” I nodded aimlessly and pushed my phone into my pocket. “Sorry if I woke you up.”
“Aye, it’s no problem, lass.” He stretched out his rather impressive physique and stood. “I’m making coffee—want some?”
“Definitely.” I nodded and followed him into the kitchen.
“How’s yer head doing? I left ye some Advil.” He motioned towards the bedroom.
“I found it. Thank you.” I sat down at the kitchen table. “And—thank you so much for coming last night.”
“Aye.” He started the coffee and nodded. “I knew ye was probably in some trouble after I saw yer texts.”
“I’ve had better nights.” I let out a long sigh. “I still can’t believe you literally pulled me out of bed and carried me out of my sorority house!”
“Ye should probably be more surprised that none of yer so-called sisters seemed to care. A few of them cheered.” He shook his head and sat down.
“Wonderful…” I looked down at the table. “I guess they’ll be expecting the walk of shame when I get back.”
Chrissy didn’t mention it when she texted me, so I must not be the talk of the whole house at least…
“I’m sure ye will be fine.” Lachlan reached over and put his hand on mine. “Ms. Hartley.”
“Hartley?” I blinked a couple of times. “You made me tell you my last name before you put me to bed?”
“Nah.” He pulled his hand away. “I saw the pictures in yer room.”
“I don’t think my last name is in any of those pictures…” I tilted my head in confusion.
“But yer father is.” He narrowed his eyes. “David Hartley.”
“Wait…” My head snapped back. “How do you know his name?”
“When I was working at the Securities Firm in New York, we had a few clients out west—he was one of them.” Lachlan nodded. “He used to come to New York a few times a year for meetings.”
“Damn...” I rubbed my eyes and blinked away the last bit of sleep left in them. “Small world.”
“Aye.” Lachlan nodded. “I went out for drinks with him a few times—he mentioned a bairn back home. I had no idea it was ye.”
“Oh no…” A sense of panic shot through me. “You’re not going to tell him, are you? About last night—the party?”
“No.” Lachlan chuckled under his breath. “Yer secret is safe with me, but maybe ye should be a little careful next time?”
“Hopefully, there won’t be a next time,” I exhaled sharply.
The coffee pot beeped and brought a pause to our conversation. Lachlan made two cups and put one down in front of me. He offered to make breakfast, and while I wasn’t sure if my stomach could handle it, I felt like I should try to eat something. The smell of eggs and bacon woke my stomach
up a little bit and made it growl, so it seemed like food was going to be a better option than I thought.
I felt like Lachlan deserved an explanation, so I told him what Kira did to us while I cooked. He was no stranger to hazing but thought she went overboard, especially since there was no plan to protect us if we got so drunk that we couldn’t take care of ourselves. He was right about that part. I didn’t join a sorority just so I could be abused and left in a bed where any guy in the house could wander in—the fact we didn’t have locks was supposed to be a sign of sisterhood, but it was obviously a mistake.
“Ye should report her.” Lachlan nodded. “Kira—she’s out of control.”
“I’m sure they would just give her a slap on the wrist and kick me out of the sorority.” I shook my head. “I was looking for somewhere cheaper than the dorms.”
“Surely yer father can help?” Lachlan tilted his head. “I seem to remember his investments doing well.”
“That’s a little complicated.” I let out a long sigh. “My father may have talked about me, but we’ve never been close. My parents weren’t happy when I decided to go to school so far from home—that made our relationship worse than it already was.”
“Understandable.” Lachlan shrugged. “I wouldn’t want my bairn far from home either.”
“They were nicer about it once they realized I was actually going to leave.” I shook my head as I remembered some of the conversations that led up to that point. “I let my grades slip a lot in high school. My parents were worried the same thing would happen in college—which is why my father said he wasn’t going to pay for me to go to school unless I stayed close to home.”
“Ye didn’t want that?” Lachlan raised his eyebrows inquisitively.
“No.” I shook my head quickly. “I love my parents, but like I said—I’ve never been that close with my father, so I wanted a little freedom.”
“Ye might have gotten a little too much of that.” Lachlan chuckled and brought breakfast over to the table.
“Maybe…” I picked up my fork.
My relationship with my parents was hard to explain because it was often tumultuous. There were too many fights to remember all of them, sometimes it was just between my parents, and sometimes I was in the middle of it. My father traveled a lot more than my mother liked, and she often accused him of cheating on her, even when she had nothing else to go on except intuition. He swore he was faithful, but years of accusations put a strain on their marriage.
Daddy’s Kilted Friend Page 6